Tacoma
Illustrated
Her History, Growth & Resources
A Comprehensive Review of the
City of Destiny
Chapter 1

By
Holice, Pam, and Deb

Extra special thanks to Holice B.
Young for transcribing this book. The excellent work she does
continues to help many researchers! Thanks also, to Pam Rietsch, for
sharing her books with genealogists!

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STATE OF WASHINGTON

A GENERAL REVIEW OF HER SITUATION, CLIMATE, AND
UNBOUNDED RESOURCES.

Naturally he publication of this work is in the interests of Tacoma,
but as the resources of the surrounding country are always the great
factor in building up cities, so it is our object to show the immense
resources of the State of Washington, and tributary to the "City of
Destiny."

Washington Territory has at last been admitted an acceptable sister
in statehood, and she heralds her advent with such wonderful display of
vigor, prosperity and wealth, that it will be safe to predict for her a
grand future. For years Washington has been so far removed from the
great centers of trade and population, debarred from the privileges
obtainable from direct railroad communication, that her progress was
very much retarded. The situation is now all changed, and its railway
and water transportation facilities are complete in every sense of the
word. The development of the States of Kansas, Nebraska, Minnesota and
Colorado, Dakota and other Territories, naturally preceded Washington,
but now on a footing with these predecessors, the natural resources of
the wonderland will soon place it in the front rank of prosperous
States.

Washington is destined to be, like the Empire State of the Union, a
State with many cities, and in this respect has numerous advantages over
other Territories recently admitted into statehood. It is only a very
few years when at least a dozen cities in this State will each have a
population of over 50,000.

Washington is naturally divided by the Cascade Mountains into two
great parts, commonly known as Eastern and Western Washington. These in
turn are subdivided into lesser parts known as "Countries."
These include the Puget sound, the Chehalis, the Lower Columbia, the
Walla Walla, the Palouse, the Big Bend, the Yakima, the Okanogan, the
Spokane, and Colville Countries.

The State is 360 miles from east to west, and 249 north to south, and
contains 69,994 square miles, or about 20,000 square miles more than
England.

Eastern Washington--that portion of territory lying east of the
mountains--is a vast farm and stock range with but little timber. It is
well watered, and very productive of fruits, vegetables and cereals
natural to the temperate zone. Western Washington is a country of hills
and valleys, covered nearly in its entirety with heavy timber and hiding
in its womb immense deposits of precious ores.

The Cascade Mountains give birth to many streams which empty into
Puget Sound, several of which are navigable nearly to the foothills of
the mountains, and flow to the sound through narrow valleys of exceeding
fertility.

THE PROMISED LAND. Capital, always watchful of the chance to increase
itself, quickly saw the advantages offered by Washington to the
immigrant, speculator and manufacturer, and at once set about building
railroads and steamship lines to facilitate the project of making
Washington a State so attractive in its resources that its hills and
valleys would rapidly be covered with thriving and numerous settlements,
and settled on

THE PUGET SOUND COUNTRY, as that part of the State which presented
the most natural advantages. Puget Sound has been fitly styled the
"Mediterranean of America," and its shores
"Wonderland." From its bosom one views in wonderment the cloud
piercing peaks of Mounts Baker and Tacoma clothed in eternal robes of
white, tokens of grand sublimity.

While the area of land at the present used for agriculture around
Puget Sound is not large, its productive capacity is so great that with
propriety it may be called a fine agricultural country.

Puget Sound is the great central feature of Western Washington,
extending south from its northern line and reaching into every valley in
the hills for 150 miles, and presenting a shore line of 1594 miles. It
divides Western Washington again fairly in the middle, from commencement
Bay south to the Columbia River. For thirty miles before reaching
Kalama, the point of crossing into Oregon, the Pacific Division of the
Northern Pacific Railroad follows the Cowlitz River, which empties into
the Columbia. All west of Puget Sound is an immense timber section,
broken in like manner by the rich valleys of streams flowing into the
Pacific Ocean at Gray's Harbor. Of these the Chehalis River is chief,
and of this whole coast region Gray's Harbor is the notable feature. The
whole of the Chehalis Valley forms one of the richest agricultural
districts in the State. From

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all these districts, Gray's Harbor on the southwest, the rich valley
of the Nisqually on the southeast, and skirting the east shore of the
Sound to the Canadian line on the north, railroads are being projected,
to concentrate at Tacoma. The climate of Western Washington and the soil
of its valleys, is especially adapted to the growing of hops, grasses
and hay, and therefore for stock raising and dairy products, it is
destined to become famous. The uplands yield wonderfully of fruits, and
well repay the labor and expense of clearing them; these lands are now
regarded more valuable, as a rule, for agriculture than for timber. Then
there are, besides, about 200,000 acres of tide lands, susceptible of
cultivation, on which enormous crops of oats and hay are raised. About
30,000 acres of these lands have been reclaimed, and 100 bushels of
oats, or from three to four tons of hay to the acre, are the average
yield. Apples, pears, cherries, plums, prunes, berries and vegetables of
various kinds, are grown in unrivaled excellence and quantity.

THE TIMBER BELT of Washington includes the whole extent of land from
the Cascade Mountains to the ocean, and from Columbia River on the south
to the British line on the north, an area equal to that of the State of
Iowa. It is estimated to contain one hundred and seventy-five billion
feet. Most of this timber will cut from twenty-five thousand to as high
as sixty thousand feet to the acre. It is composed chiefly of fir and
cedar, the former growing to a height of two hundred and fifty feet,
with a body in proportion. Cedar grows to a height of one hundred and
fifty feet, with an average diameter of four feet. these magnificent
timbers are shipped to all parts of the world, while sawed lumber from
this region is sent to California, South America, Europe and Asia, and
its famous cedar shingles are encroaching upon the markets of the East.
The cut of Washington's mills now covers about two million feet per day,
yet it will be over one hundred years before this vast timber country
will perceptibly feel this immense consumption of its supplies.

ITS IMMENSE COAL FIELDS. Thirty miles east of Tacoma, in the
foothills of the Cascades, and one the line of the Cascade division of
the Northern Pacific, are vast beds of coal. The principal mines are now
being worked at South pacific, Wilkeson and Carbonado. From all accounts
of mining engineers and experts in coal measures, Western Washington,
the Cascade Mountains and their foothills, form a vast coal field, the
deposits of which are as varied in character as those of any coal
bearing region in the world. Nearly all of the coal mines proper have
been found in and neat Puget Sound basin. There are lignite mines at
Renton and Newcastle, and the bituminous and semi-bituminous adjacent to
the Puyallup river. Two other important coal fields are those of Cedar
and Green rivers and the Nisqually, which re believed to be a
continuation of the Puyallup veins; they are of bituminous character.

The lignites mined at several points on the Sound country are of a
fair quality for domestic purposes, and are used to some extent for
steam making, but the bituminous products of the Puyallup fields
tributary to Tacoma take the lead of all coals mined on the Pacific
Coast for coking, blacksmith work, gas, steam making and domestic use.
All of these mines are tributary to Tacoma by the Cascade

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division alone, and are, therefore, not to be reached by any other
than that most beautiful and popular route.

COKE AND IRON. The Tacoma coal company have erected furnaces for the
manufacture of coke on an extensive scale at Wilkeson, and are at
present shipping largely to San Francisco, Victoria, Montana, and other
points, which have heretofore been supplied with coke from Pennsylvania.
From the Wilkeson mine is also taken in large quantities a blacksmith
coal of superior quality. The cheap production of coking coal means the
establishment of gigantic iron works, of smelting and reduction works
and various manufacturing industries and all the concomitant results,
which inevitably accompany the production of cheap iron. The value of
these products will be in the near future a source of great wealth to
the "City of Destiny."

There are also vast deposits of iron on the line of the Cascade
division and the Pacific Investment company of this city are taking
steps to develop and manufacture on a large scale.

HOPS. A seaport already possessing every facility for rail and water
transportation, and scattered in the heart of a country where its
resources are in their infancy of development, and yet of such magnitude
that they attract the attention of the world, may well be called the
"City of Destiny."

The rise, progress, [present status and future prospects of the hop
industry of Washington Territory, have been a fruitful theme for study
among statisticians and communities elsewhere, as well as among out own
people, whom it would, at first thought, seem were almost the only
interested parties. The establishing of this business here upon a firm
basis has wrought far reaching results and changes not dreamed of as
probable, or even possible. From a struggling industry upon an uncertain
basis this industry has constantly forged ahead to a solid position upon
the fixed principles that insure success; from the humble beginning of
the little plantation that yielded a first crop of one bale in the crop
year of 1864, to that of a 40,000 bales in that of 1888; from a crop of
184 pounds the first year to that of from 10 to 12 million pounds the
present year; from the value of a first crop of less than $100 to that
of over $1,500.000; from the position in the early years of its history
of humbly begging for a market rated as seconds to its competitors to
that of moving straight up to the front, as in the recent sale in one
day of over a quarter of a million pounds upon the London market
indirect competition with not only the boasted new York State hop, but
also with the products of the world, attaining a price yielding a
profit, while it competitors were selling at a loss, thus another
industry opens its possibilities. No wonder, with such results, that we
hear of the destruction of thousands of acres of hops in the older
districts of the Untied States, England and Germany, and yet see the
acreage gaining in our midst and the interest expanding year by year to
the utmost possible limits of their ability of procuring the necessary
labor to secure the crop in harvest time.

The prolific way in which hops are grown in the Puyallup valley is
something phenomenal. Two tons to the acre is not an uncommon yield, and
several cases have been cited where growers have harvested as much as
ninety tons off sixty acres. Nor is the question of yield all that can
be said of the Washington hops. Grown, as they are, principally upon the
deep, rich, fertile soil of the valleys adjacent to Puget Sound, the
roots strike deep into the alluvial deposits of which the soil is
composed, so that the plant never suffers from want of moisture, hence
it is always matured and never lacking in strength and fragrance when
properly managed after picking. The cool, long seasons for growth,
coupled with the sufficient rainfall and stimulating dews, brings a
perfection to the hop for flavor and keeping quality, which is essential
to the enhancement of its market value.

A regular traffic for this crop has been established between Tacoma
and London, England, and special train loads of hops have been dispatch
direct to New York, to be thence transferred to ocean steamers sailing
direct

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to London, which is an extremely profitable market, being capable of
receiving all the product of this kind we send.

FRUITS AND VEGETABLES. Western Washington and the Puget Sound basin
has advantages over Middle and Eastern Washington in the matter of
growing fruit and vegetables, owing to its moisture and equable climate,
produced by the proximity of the ocean and the tempering breezes that
bring with them the warm breath of the Japan current. This mild and even
climate, together with a soil adapted to fruit culture, make Washington
as fine a fruit country as can be found in the United States. This
remark only applies to such fruits as apples, pears, plums, peaches,
cherries, and all kinds of berries and small fruit. Peaches are grown to
advantage in Eastern Washington where the summers are hotter than in the
Puget Sound basin. They are also grown successfully in favored spots
east of the mountains. No element or constituent is wanting in either
the soil or climate of Washington to produce any vegetable that can be
raised in the temperate zone. This new State is destined to play no
small part in supplying this country and a great many others with
vegetable as well as various other products.

FISHERIES. The fisheries is another source of great wealth to this
fortunate state. To give an idea of the value of this industry, we will
here give some figures which pertained to last year's catch. The salmon
catch on the Columbia River during the year 1888 was three hundred and
sixty thousand cases, giving Washington credit for one-half, or one
hundred and eighty thousand cases. Twenty-five thousand cases were put
up on Puget Sound, or about double the best previous year's record.
About twenty thousand cases were put up at Gray's Harbor and other
places. These figures aggregate two hundred and twenty-five thousand
cases of salmon. The trade employs for several months each year, three
thousand men, the capital invested being one million dollars, and the
product is valued at a much greater sum. A few thousand barrels of
salmon are usually pout up each year, and during the season of 1888 the
business was inaugurated of sending to Eastern markets in refrigeration
cars. The fisheries were further extended. Three large schooners came
from the coast of Massachusetts, which were employed in catching halibut
and preparing them for the market. Their operations extended from the
mouth of the Columbia River to Alaska, and they included many cargoes of
fine fish. These were partially disposed of in the local markets, but
the great bulk was sent to the East by rail. Much more in this line has
been done this year, and the fish are not only sent fresh to the market,
but are thus preserved by local drying establishments. The fur seal
fisheries also made advances last season. Something will, it is more
than likely, be done in the way of fishing for cod, and possibly also in
whaling. There can be no question that Puget Sound that the Gulf of
Georgia are most admirably adapted for the general fisheries. This fact
is being seen and acknowledged more and more each succeeding year, and
it is a matter of a short time only until our fisheries rival in extent
those of the New England coast, Newfoundland and Norway.

WASHINGTON'S RAILROAD LINES. In 1885 the railroads of Washington
aggregated an extreme length of 566 miles; in 1886, 954 miles; in 1887,
1,061 miles; in 1888, 1,410 miles; and by the end of the present year it
is estimated not less and 2,000 miles of road will be in operation, and
as a result of this impulse given the population and business of
Washington by the extended rail-

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road facilities, most of the towns have increased their numbers of
inhabitants at lest twenty-five per cent, while the "City of
Destiny" proudly claim not less than three hundred per cent, of
this increase.

MINERALS. The mineral resources are too large and of too much
importance to be touched upon to any considerable length in an article
that is written simply to give the reader, unfamiliar with this young
but prosperous State, a general idea of what lies within the borders of
Washington, so that in order to do then justice, the compilers of this
work have decided to product articles on these industries separately.

CLIMATE OF WESTERN WASHINGTON. Those who have gone no further in
studying the character of Washington than its situation on the map, will
be surprised at nothing in its long list of surprises, more then its
climate. When the reader is here informed, therefore, that the weather
experienced throughout Washington west of the Cascade Mountains, is as
mild, uniform and equable as anywhere in the Untied States, he may
accept it as stated with the utmost conscientiousness, and as being
true. The words "mild" and "equable" must be
accepted for what they mean. Here an excessive heat or cold is unknown.
The thermometer rarely registers 90 degrees, and it has not been known
to reach zero but one day in six years. Our location on the map is
wholly misleading in this regard, for we are on a line with Montreal,
where the ice palace is the one great boast. Bur the relative positions
with regard to north and south do not by any means wholly govern
temperatures. For if the same line is carried on past Montreal it will
be found running through the vineyards of France. Why Washington is so
favored in its climate, is easily explained. The warm Japan current, of
which every schoolboy knows, strikes the coast below the mouth of the
Columbia River, and follows the line north into the very home of winter.
It meets and tempers its cold winds, and changes its snows to rain. Then
the high sentinel range of Cascade Mountains, 125 miles inland, stands
forward, beckoning the clouds, and draining the fountains of rain and
snow. These conditions make winter. A curtain of low clouds is drawn
over the country from the sea to the mountain tops, much of the time
during the winter months, and frequent light rains form the
distinguishing feature of the season. The mountains attract the clouds
themselves, and the sky of Eastern Washington is thus kept clear nearly
the year round. The winds blow from the south during the winter months,
but from the north during the summer. For when the Southern summer grows
hot the north winds are hurried to its relief by a law of nature. The
great glaciers of Alaska standing as the outposts of winter's
stronghold, are but a day's good blow from the north, and while its cold
winds (just off the ice, so to speak) hurry on their kindly mission
toward the equator, (where they will probably form a tornado), the
summers of Washington territory are found delicious. This is not mere
fancy. Probably nowhere in the world is the weather so even the year
round. Great and sudden changes so trying and so common in the East are
unknown. Twilight in midsummer extends to ten o'clock, and on summer
nights the snowy summit of Mount Tacoma, sixty miles distant, can be
plainly seen from the streets of Tacoma.

Of the season only the word "perfect" is necessary in
description. In winter many people do not consider an overcoat
necessary, while in summer most people find a blanket for a bed covering
quite comfortable.

With these conditions it will be readily seen the seasons of the year
are not as strongly marked as elsewhere. They merge into each other
almost imperceptibly. September is characterized by an occasional
shower. These become more frequent as the season advances--light, sift
rains from low clouds most resembling a Scotch mist, and that do not
interrupt the regular current of life. Men, and women as well, go about
in them undisturbed, stop and exchange works of talk business, as they
meet on the street without shelter. During November and December this
weather is the rule. It is wholly unattended by that searching cold that
enters the marrow of men and make them wholly wretched, and such as
characterizes the winter rains of the eastern middle States. It is quiet
and even tempered, with no high winds. In January the thermometer
usually drops another peg or two, and the rain turns to snow for a
season of from three days to three weeks. Then comes the warm "Chinook"
wind, and winter disappears before it. The rains continue frequent
through the early spring months, growing rarer as summer approaches,
until it settles down again to a period of perfect days and nights of
summer. In other words, every year casts up a fair average of fair days.
But the reader should note this: Heavy storms, high winds and cyclones
are absolutely unknown. Thunder and lightning are the most novel of
nature's phenomena. On the other hand there are many who believe that
Washington Territory is deluged with rain from six to eight months in
the year. This too is as untrue as the common belief as to the cold. The
gradual merging of winter into summer and summer into winter again, as
indicated in the greater or less frequency of rain, characterizes the
spring and fall, and winter means that rain is the order of things,
while summer mean the contrary. It may be remarked that we have devoted
considerable space to a description of the climate; we have done so with
the purpose in view of undeceiving the many people who have an idea that
there is nothing in the winter months but rain.

In concluding this brief review of Washington's resources it would be
well to say that we have merely touched on some of them; it has been
necessary for the time being to do this, but as we proceed with the
work, we will endeavor to give a detailed description of these resources
in their proper places and show the bearing they have on Tacoma, and
how, by her natural location at the head of Puget South and as the
terminus of the Northern Pacific, together with her smelters,
warehouses, coal bunkers, manufacturing and shipping industries, she is
better adapted to handle these resources than any other city in
Washington, or in fact, any city on the Pacific Coast.